COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA TOURNAMENTS : She Points Way With 3-Pointers : Women’s Final Four: Goodenbour, a former shooting guard, is not afraid to shoot from behind the line for Stanford.

As far as Molly Goodenbour is concerned, the clock doesn’t move quickly enough during the first two minutes of a basketball game.

You see, the Stanford coaches have had to establish the Molly Goodenbour rule--applicable only to the 5-foot-6 junior point guard. She is not allowed to shoot in the opening two minutes of a game.

OK, fine.

So let’s take a look at Goodenbour’s first venture downcourt against USC in Saturday’s West Regional final at Seattle. The Trojans opened with a two-three zone. Goodenbour’s eyes widened.

What a great sight for shooting guard turned point guard!

Was there really any choice?

She dribbled, took another look, pulled up and hit the three-pointer.

Forty-four seconds had already dragged by. An eon in Goodenbour time.

“I do have a two-minute rule, but I don’t know how strongly it’s been enforced,” Goodenbour says, laughing. “I think it depends on whether you make it or not.

“They just want me to come down and set it up.”

There are other so-called Cardinal sins.

“Usually, if we’re playing against the zone, we’re supposed to give it to the post before we start firing threes,” said sophomore Christy Hedgpeth, Goodenbour’s backcourt partner.

“Let at least one post (player) touch it. We don’t really always follow that, either.”

Said Goodenbour: “We try not to indiscriminately fire the ball up there. We like to work it around. If there’s an open shot, we usually take it.”

The open shots were there against USC and Goodenbour led the way. She made six of nine from three-point territory and finished with 22 points in the Cardinal’s 82-62 victory over the Trojans.

Stanford assistant coach Julie Plank, who works with both Goodenbour and Hedgpeth, didn’t have a big problem with the broken “rule.”

“Well, we do love coming out and scoring the first basket,” she said. “And a three is even better. She’s not bashful, that’s for sure. The reason she had the rule was because we’d like to get the ball inside first. Once you establish that, you have your outside game. But sometimes she and Christy forget about our inside players.”

Hedgpeth nearly equaled Goodenbour’s output, shooting five for 10 from three-point range and ending up with 21 points. In all, Stanford’s 12 three-pointers in 23 attempts set an NCAA record.

Their efforts helped lead the Cardinal into its third consecutive Final Four. Third-ranked Stanford, which won the NCAA tournament two years ago, will play No. 1 Virginia in the second semifinal Saturday at the Sports Arena.

Stanford has needed a steadying influence at point guard since teams have been keying on center Val Whiting in the tournament. Whiting wasn’t much of a factor against USC, scoring only six points, well below her 18.7 average.

But the Cardinal has received outstanding outside shooting from Goodenbour in victories over UC Santa Barbara, Texas Tech and USC. Goodenbour has made 13 of 25 three-point shots, one short of the NCAA tournament record held by former Cardinal guard Jennifer Azzi and Lamar’s Brenda Hatchett.

“She’s the glue of that team,” USC Coach Marianne Stanley said. “Last year, she wasn’t ready yet. I don’t think kids coming out of high school understand how good you have to be to play point guard. It’s a huge adjustment, emotionally and physically. You’ve got to be a great communicator at this level. That’s a lot to ask.

“She’s come a long way and she’s shown that she’s ready.”

And then there were the impressive resumes of those who came before Goodenbour in the backcourt. Azzi was named player of the year when she led Stanford to the title in 1990, and Sonia Henning helped the Cardinal reach the Final Four last season.

Goodenbour was never fazed, playing behind that kind of talent.

“When I played against Sonia and Jennifer in practice, they’re better than people I play against in games,” she said. “They taught me a lot about basketball. They just have a great work ethic.”

Now Goodenbour and Hedgpeth are running the offense. They seem to have the same shooting philosophy--with only one slight difference.

“If I miss the first one, I don’t really feel that bad,” Hedgpeth said. “If I miss the first two or three, I start thinking about it a little more.”

Said Goodenbour: “I try not to dwell on whether I make or miss my first shot. Christy says I can miss my first nine or 10 and I still keep shooting. If I’m open, I’m going to shoot whether it’s going down or not. I figure, statistically, it’s bound to fall 40 or 50% of the time. You might as well throw it up there.”